1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermoplastic shaped-body of trehalose, process and uses thereof, and more particularly, to a thermoplastic shaped-body of trehalose, process for producing the thermoplastic shaped-body of trehalose characterized in that it comprises a step of preparing the thermoplastic shaped-body of trehalose by forming a trehalose solution, process for producing a shaped-body containing trehalose comprising a step of heating the thermoplastic shaped-body of trehalose to impart it free-flowing ability and forming the resultant, method for lowering the adhesion of a trehalose solution, and uses thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As disclosed in xe2x80x9cChemical Industryxe2x80x9d, pp. 57-65, June 1999, trehalose is produced from starches as raw materials on an industrial scale and is widely used especially in food industries. However, methods for forming trehalose are restricted in use; is restricted; Trehalose is merely used by mixing crystalline or powdery trehalose with fillers or binders and forming the resulting mixture into tablets; or dissolving by heating in water crystalline or powdery trehalose and other saccharide(s) in an amount exceeding trehalose, concentrating by boiling the resulting mixture, pouring the mixture into molds, cooling the resultant to form candies. These methods require relatively specific machines and high techniques; the obtained shaped-bodies are too monotonic in their shapes. As an arbitral-shape of product containing trehalose, for example, it is substantially difficult to produce a cotton-like shaped-body because commercially-available crystalline or powdery trehalose could not be processed with cotton-candy-machines and could not be processed well into cotton candies like those processed with rock candies. It has been demanded a process for producing shaped-bodies having arbitral shapes by using trehalose.
The object of the present invention provides a process for easily producing shaped-bodies having arbitral shapes by using trehalose.
To attain the above object the present inventors eagerly studied on the process for producing shaped-bodies of trehalose. As a result, they found that high-trehalose-content glassy shaped-bodies have higher storage-stability than those processed with other saccharides, have desired thermoplasticity and satisfactory heat-resistance, have ease of being formed into shaped-bodies having arbitral shapes after being heated to impart them free-flowing ability, and have ease of being formed repeatedly by using the above properties. Thus, the present inventors accomplished this invention. Based on the findings that high-trehalose-content glassy shaped-bodies have satisfactory thermoplasticity and stability, the present inventors solved the above object by providing a thermoplastic shaped-body of trehalose; a process for producing the thermoplastic shaped-body of trehalose characterized in that it comprises a step of either forming a trehalose solution with a substance capable of lowering the adhesion of the trehalose solution and having a moisture content of not higher than about 8.3 w/w % (throughout the specification, the term xe2x80x9cw/w %xe2x80x9d is abbreviated as xe2x80x9c%xe2x80x9d hereinafter, unless specified otherwise), or forming a trehalose solution having no such a substance but a moisture content of not higher than about 2.4%; a process for producing a shaped-body containing trehalose by heating the above thermoplastic shaped-body of trehalose to impart to it free-flowing ability and forming the resultant into a product having an appropriate shape along with or without other substance(s); a method for lowering the adhesion of a trehalose solution characterized in that it comprises a step of, when concentrated by heating, either lowering the moisture content of the trehalose solution to a level of not higher than about 8.3% in the presence of a substance capable of lowering the adhesion of the trehalose solution, or lowering the moisture content of the trehalose solution to a level of not higher than about 2.4%; and a thermoplastic shaped-body of trehalose obtainable by using these processes and methods.